Angelique told me about something that happened at her work. She was in a meeting where a new senior hire from the Product Team came to introduce himself to her team.
Everyone in her team introduced in turn introduced themselves back to the new hire. When it got to Angelique, she said that she was a bit nervous, and stumbled a bit, and when she sat down afterwards, she was mortified. Bear in mind that Angelique is an experienced professional, with nearly seven years at her company, and is also a veteran public speaker. If it can happen to her, it can happen to all of us. It could certainly happen to me.
Lots of career advice I read …

I love airport bookshops. It's like the best of books distilled into a few shelves. I can never resist even though it will double my carry on luggage.
The domestic terminal at Melbourne Tullamarine had some enticing books: 12 Rules for Life by Jordan B. Peterson (which I've read but only on Kindle, so I bought a paperback there and then), First Man In by Ant Middleton, who I've only recently discovered on Channel 4's SAS: Who Dares Wins, and Own The Day, Own Your Life by Aubrey Marcus.
I snapped it up alongside Peterson's. (Will get Middleton's book soon.)
The premise of Aubrey's book is that by making the right small decisions …

I had this thought in Melbourne. I think from visiting the marvellous State Library of Victoria and the National Gallery of Victoria. Melbourne is regularly voted one of the most liveable cities in the world, and I thought what if we could take the elements that make Melbourne (and other great cities) and apply that at the micro-level, the individual level. So here’s a stab at what makes a great city:
A great city has:
Superb art galleries
Excellent libraries
Magnificent parks
Great architecture
Good schools and great universities
Bustling markets full of great produce
Strong sense of culture and identity
Food that you would travel …

I've always been a terrible swimmer. I never learned as a kid. And the times that I've swum, I've more thrashed about than technically swum.
I remember two times where I've swum in the sea and both times felt like I was in serious trouble.
I thought that I might well have died.
In fact, without help around me, I could well have died. (I'd never thought about that until writing this just now. Oops.)
The first was in 2009 in the Great Barrier Reef off Queensland, Australia. Me and my mate Grant were backpacking and decided to do a boat trip. We did some snorkeling which was okay. But then we had the chance to do some …

Warren Buffett said that the best investment you can make is not in the markets, but instead, in yourself.
That’s pretty deep and until today I had no idea what he meant.
Yes, you could learn a new skill like data analysis and translate that into more money at work or something, but I think Buffett meant something slightly different.
He’s big into the power of compounding. Remember Einstein said that compounding is the eighth wonder of the world. To get the full power of compounding, you have to start something (like investing) early, and do it for a long time, so that you start making money on the money you make.
Imagine that you …

If we start from the position that we all have potential, then why is there a gap between where your potential self is and where you are at the moment?
How big is that gap? What is your true potential? It might be that your true potential is way more than you think it is. In which case, the gap is even bigger than you know.
Step one is where you are now.
Step two is looking at where you think your potential is. So this might be being a writer or being an artist.
Step three is discovering where your true potential might be (and you would need help from outside to discover this). This might be being a rocket scientist, climbing the …

I’m generally rushing and multitasking most of the time. I want to squeeze in a podcast in the shower, watch self-improvement videos on YouTube, read business books on the bus to work. I cook quickly, wolf it down and wash up like a dervish.
Two things I’ve read recently have made me question this mode of doing stuff.
Firstly, I read a great article on Medium by Aytekin Tank (which I haven’t fully digested yet). It’s called: Why reading 100 books a year won’t make you successful. In it he says reading as many books as possible in the shortest amount of time won’t make you successful, and that actually it harms the very reasons why we should …

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Hi there! I’m Edmond Chan

I write about positivity, mindset, travel, money, and books. Hope you enjoy the site!

A bit of disclaimer – worth a read

I do write some stuff about financial topics such as cryptocurrency and investing. I am not a financial professional and please don’t rely on what I say to make financial decisions. Please check with your financial adviser before making these decisions.